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Lake Station, Indiana - 3 schools
An equity score of 64/100 ranks Lake Station Community Schools #102 of 373 districts in Indiana (state average 50). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,507 per pupil, Lake Station Community Schools ranks #215 of 406 Indiana districts by per-pupil spending (Indiana districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
1,125
Total Enrollment
3
Schools
$11,507
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Lake Station Community Schools operates 3 public schools serving 1,125 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Indiana. The school portfolio breaks down into 2 elementary, 1 combined schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Lake County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,507 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the lower half of 406 Indiana districts by per-pupil spending. See how Indiana compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 26.4% local, 65.8% state, and 7.7% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 64/100, ranked #102 of 373 in Indiana against a state average of 50, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 1 of 3 schools offering Advanced Placement (3 AP courses district-wide), a 595:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 38.2% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 46.4% Hispanic or Latino, 34.3% White, 12.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Virgil I Bailey Elementary School, with a diversity index of 66.2/100.
Its largest campus is Thomas a Edison Jr-Sr Hs, enrolling 595 students (58% of the district's total enrollment).
Thomas a Edison Jr-Sr Hs accounts for 52.9% of all Lake Station Community Schools student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Lake Station Community Schools a distant remainder — means Lake Station Community Schools-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: combined. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Lake Station Community Schools school enrollment varies 3.0× across entities
Lake Station Community Schools school enrollment ranges from 200 students (lowest) to 595 students (highest), a spread of 395 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous campus portfolio, most districts have a wider mix of school sizes. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Lake Station Community Schools has higher-than-average Title I eligibility — 78.5% of the population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Areas above 75% eligibility — including this one — receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Lake Station Community Schools student-counselor ratio is 595:1 — well above typical (typically associated with unusually large scale or acute resource constraints)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Lake Station Community Schools chronic absenteeism rate is 38.2% — high (typically associated with higher-than-average disruption; recent CRDC data showed elevated rates persisting after pandemic-era schooling changes)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Comparisons are relative to Lake Station Community Schools's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Nearby Districts in Indiana
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
How many schools are in Lake Station Community Schools?
Lake Station Community Schools has 3 schools, including 1 combined, 2 elementary. Total enrollment is 1,125 students.
How much does Lake Station Community Schools spend per student?
Lake Station Community Schools spends $11,507 per student. The district has an equity score of 64/100, ranking #102 in Indiana.
What is the demographic composition of Lake Station Community Schools?
Lake Station Community Schools students are 46.4% Hispanic or Latino, 34.3% White, 12.0% African American, 0.4% Asian, averaged across 3 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
What is the equity score for Lake Station Community Schools?
Lake Station Community Schools has an equity score of 64/100, ranking #102 out of 373 districts in Indiana.